Comfort and Seating Distance in Living Rooms

Abstract

Two experiments were reported. In each experiment, the subjects were shown photographs of living rooms. The seat occupied by another person was indicated. In the first experiment, the subject was asked to choose an unoccupied seat in the room; in the second, he was asked to imagine himself in a second seat and to indicate his degree of comfort with that situation. The results of Experiment 1 show that both the topic of conversation and the indicated relationship of the person in the other chair were significantly related to distance between the chosen chairs. The results of Experiment 2 show that discomfort increased with increasing distance between chairs, and that comfort was related to both the topic of conversation and to the relationship indicated between the subject and the occupant of the other chair. Findings are discussed in the context of Hall's theory of interpersonal distances.